Guru's Favorite Southern California Artists:

Meet Peter Mooney

Why are we presenting Southern California artists like Peter Mooney? One of our favorite things to do on a major vacation is to keep an eye out for a special item to acquire for our home; something that will last forever and will regularly remind us of that terrific trip.

The problem is finding the right “special item” can be a big distraction, and in many instances you are not spending time at enough cool “special item” shops in the course of your vacation. If you are at theme parks and the beach most of the time, your choices for great mementos are limited. What could be more appropriate than a beautiful, original painting by a creative genius who should not spend another minute out in the hot summer sun.

In view of the above, it seemed to make sense to introduce you to my favorite slightly deranged SoCal native. Born in Glendale or some other L.A. suburb, and perhaps just a bit too-well educated at the University of California in Santa Barbara, Peter has lived here all of his considerable number of years. I’ve known Peter longer than I’m willing to admit.

You see, Peter’s primary career was as a creative mastermind (my word, not his I assure you), in the world of international advertising. Some of the more memorable ad campaigns for Nestle, Acura, Volkswagen, Jiffy Lube, Pedigree dog food and a host of other major clients came from Peter’s fertile mind.

The man got burned out on that rat race awhile ago as you’ll see in his writings (In fact, although identifying with other Southern California artists is now Peter’s passion, an up-and-coming advertising firm would do well to consult with Pete on that major creative assignment that just needs a higher level of horsepower. But I digress…).

The same sizzling brain synapses that made Peter one of the most sought-after advertising minds are now available to provide a SoCal souvenir for your living room, den or front hallway. You can own the abstract output from his fertile imagination, augmented by pretty good fine-motor-skills.

The artwork tends towards the abstract, as you’ll see in the samples. I’d say it is more sophisticated than most California artists. We have a Mooney hanging in our front hallway next to a print by Theodore (Dr. Seuss) Geisel and it goes very nicely if I might say so.

If you’ve looked in any galleries of substance, such originals typically go for $400 to $4,000. Since Peter has not yet been commissioned to paint any Hollywood buildings, you can purchase his originals for between $295 and $1,195 (with some smaller items at even lower prices). And since the gallery will typically take a big chunk of the total price, and since I helped Peter change the oil in his 1965 Buick before he made it big, mention the SoCal Vacation Guru and he’ll knock off another 20% from the pricing of paintings in his home studio. Shipping is extra but not unreasonable.

Enjoy these few samples of Southern California artist Peter S. Mooney. You can check out his MooneyArts website for many more samples and contact info. In fact when you're over on his website click on the photos to see larger versions. You can even call him; he’s quite humble and down to earth for a guy who spreads so much oil-based paint.